Cat Mirley Illustrates the Institute of Directors Awards

For the sixth year in succession students from the Illustration and Visual Communication courses have been privileged to be invited to design a series of Illustrations for the Institute of Directors West Midlands: Director of the Year Awards.

This years awards ceremony was held, once again at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham on the 19th June.

The chosen Illustrator this year was a second-year Illustration student, Cat Mirley who designed a series of ten bespoke artworks for the winners of the individual categories.

Sue Hurrell of the IoD said:

“IoD West Midlands is committed to supporting our young people and our relationship with the University of Wolverhampton Art School is an extremely rewarding one. This year we commissioned 10 beautiful unique trophies which thrilled the room of over 260 senior business leaders at the Director of the Year Awards. Our winners were bowled-over by the quality of their stunning bespoke artwork and join us in thanking Cat Mirley and John Clementson for all their hard work.” 

One of those winners, Phil Neale CEO and founder of Snoozle commented:

"Winning the iOD Director of the Year Award was made even more special by the personal and creative nature of the award itself. The personalised sketch with artistic inclusions that tie me as an entrepreneur to the business I have created is something I’ll keep forever.”

Halesowen College Visit the 2018 Final Show

Visual Communication courses at the University of Wolverhampton have a longstanding relationship with staff and students from Halesowen College.

“The standard of the Visual Communication final show displays gets better each year” said Gillian Dunkerley of Halesowen College.

 

“Year after year, each show is outstanding and I’m particularly impressed with the attention to detail. It is so valuable for Halesowen College students to see a body of quality design work in one final show. Visiting this final show is a great experience for our students and helps them to make a leap forward in the ambition and quality of their own design work. The show also helps to demonstrate the potential of a career in Visual Communication. I've always found Visual Communication courses at the University of Wolverhampton provide a realistic preparation for work and future professional lives through links with industry and employers and through the staff’s experience and contacts. 

Continued Gill.

Sandwell College Visit the 2018 Final Show

Students from Sandwell College have made a return to Wolverhampton School of Art to see the final show.

“Our students found their visit to Wolverhampton final Show inspiring. This second visit to the School of Art has helped with their familiarisation with the University.” 

 said Terry Baker of Sandwell College

“The final show has helped to demonstrate to our students what can be achieved by setting goals in art and design and has given them a broader perspective, opening up their ideas to new pathways and future career options” 

he continued.

Ormiston SWB Academy Visit the 2018 Final Show

Wolverhampton School of Art Final Show is popular with school and college groups and todays visitors included students and staff from Ormiston SWB Academy.

"The displays are fantastic and have given our students the opportunity to see work from different art and design disciplines. I am really pleased that the visit demonstrated that studying Art and Design at the University of Wolverhampton is a worthwhile way to a rewarding career. My students have also been especially impressed by the employment achievements of those graduating from the School of Art" 
said Jessica Williams, Art Teacher at Ormiston SWB Academy. 

http://www.swbacademy.org.uk

Moseley Park School Visit the 2018 Final Show

A large group of art students from Moseley Park School have made a return visit to Wolverhampton Art School to visit the 2018 final show.

"The exhibitions have been a great inspiration and provided wonderful ideas for future projects" said Rhiannon Holland Bright, of the art department, Moseley Park School.

"The work on display at Wolverhampton School of Art is of very high quality and has really ignited my students interest. We've had a wonderful visit and my students are still talking about their interesting day in the School of Art." she continued.

Bournville College Visit the 2018 Final Show

The Final Show continues to attract attention and todays visitors included staff and students from Bournville College.

“We enjoyed the cross fertilisation of different disciplines and the quality of concepts. Degree show displays were innovative and playful. Wolverhampton University is addressing the needs of contemporary practice in the Creative Industries effortlessly.” 

said Amanda Blake Course Team Leader: Art & Design, Bournville College.

Kings Church of England School Visit the 2018 Final Show

School and College groups are touring the final show this week and todays visitors have included King's Church of England School. Their school moto is 'Aspire, Believe and Achieve Together,' concepts that resonated during todays visit to Wolverhampton School of Art.

"Our sixth form art and photography students have benefited from visiting the Wolverhampton School of Art final show. It's important for them to see exhibitions like this as it increases their aspirations and provides a wider view of career opportunities in the creative sector. It also increases their awareness of different disciplines and creativity in general. It was an excellent show with some really impressive work. The students are still excited about it." 
said Phil Sutton, King's Church of England School

Norton Canes School Visit the 2018 Final Show

Arts staff and students Norton Canes High School have visited the 2018 Wolverhampton School of Art final show.

“After visiting the University of Wolverhampton on a number of occasions, studying Art and Design at Wolverhampton School of Art has become an aspirational goal for Norton Canes students” said Alexina Evans, Head of Art at Norton Canes School.

“From our visit to this year’s impressive final show, our students have been able to gain a better understanding of how art and design ideas develop, plus the care and attention put into the final show displays has provided Norton Canes Students with inspiration for their own work.

Visits to Wolverhampton Art School help my students to embed their learning experience at School within the wider professional creative industries, inspiring them to consider art and design as a future career option” she continued.

This years final show which is open from Saturday 9 June - Wednesday 20 June from 10am - 4pm (closed Sundays). The final show is part of Artsfest.

Private view presentations to visiting lecturers

During the private view for the 2018 final show presentations were made to visiting lecturers, Clive Moore and Diana Epure who have been a valuable part of the course team this year. 

“I’d like to thank Clive and Diana for their exceptionally hard work this year and for bringing additional voices and flavours to the student experience” said Jane Webb, Divisional Leader, Visual Communication.

Clive has been teaching level four, five and MA students and Diana, who is the departments first Erasmus Teaching Assistant has been teaching throughout the Illustration course.

2018 Private View Success

The 2018 final show private view has been a great success. An increased number of visitors including large numbers of alumni, enjoyed the illustration and graphics exhibitions as well as the displays featuring work on the theme of ‘Lost and Found’ and the showcase highlighting the importance of developmental work. 

Lost and Found is part of Artsfest 2018.

Laura Hough - Association of Illustrators New Designers Promotion

The work of illustration student Laura Hough has been featured within the Association of Illustrators New Designers promotion. Overall, the piece takes a snapshot of some of the best work to be displayed at this summers show, highlighting key themes emerging this year which include an exploration on community, applied crafts and retelling traditional narratives. 

Laura's work, currently on display as part of Wolverhampton School of Art final show, is inspired by Dylan Thomas’ ‘Under Milk Wood’. Her illustrations carefully consider the characters and locations of the drama to create a mindful series of hand-rendered imagery and digitally manipulated collages.

http://www.laurahough.co.uk

Congratulations - Graduate award winners

We are delighted to announce that the 2018 winners of Graduate awards are:

The Sheaffer Prize for Use of Language in Graphic Projects: Sam Chambers

Sam has captured an appropriate tone of voice in his ‘Solar Network’ project. The concept cleverly juxtaposes visual and verbal reference to science-fiction and advertising from 1950s Americana, in conjunction with the future of space tourism. Not only has Sam conceived, written and designed a body of work that projects a futuristic yet nostalgic aesthetic, he even commissioned an American voice-artist to narrate the script written for his animation.

The Sheaffer Prize for Outstanding Work on Live Commissions in Graphic Communications: Georgia Cox

Georgia’s response to the 6th International Reggae Poster Contest has been shortlisted to be among the 40 student designs selected for the first exhibition at the Positive Vibration Reggae Festival in Liverpool. Her simple illustrative design incorporates visual representation of themes, instruments, textures, lyrics and colours associated with Reggae lifestyle and music in a controlled kaleidoscopic composition.

The Sheaffer Prize for Dissertation: Emily Cooksey

Emily has written an articulate and academic essay on the visual representations of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Considering the works of Henri Fuseli (1741-1825) and Salvador Dali (1904-1989) she analyses and contextualises their approaches in visualising the play. Emily then moves to juxtapose these representations to critically discuss the visual interpretations of this well known narrative.

The Visual Communication Department Award: Laura Hough

Laura has been consistently experimental throughout her degree, culminating in her sequential narrative work produced for ‘Under Milk Wood’. She has been a proactive student representative and a support for her peer group. We wish her well as she embarks on her MA and professional life.

Lost and Found Exhibition - Artsfest

Visual Communication students exhibition Lost and Found exploring what it is to lose something, only for it to be found at a later time, opens as part of Artsfest on 11th June.

https://lostandfound2018.blogspot.com

Artsfest programme can be found at www.wlv.ac.uk/artsfest 

The full catalogue of Artsfest can be seen online here

Lost and Found will be on display in room MK312 of Wolverhampton School of Art until 20 June.